Karac:He is accused of voting five times during Walker's recall election, three times under his own name and two times via mail-in absentee ballots using the names of his son and his girlfriend's son.

Oh you've got to be farking kidding me. Amnesia? Can you imagine what a huge deal it would be if the dirty dark libs had one proven case of this? Jesus, we'd have government investigations everywhere for another four years.

Yup. And this is why it scares the crap out of me that the SCOTUS might take up the gay marriage issue. And they will vote exactly like everybody thinks they will.

I look at Scalia's joining the majority in the Prop H8 ruling as indicating they would rule the other way. If Scalia had the votes to strike down gay marriage, his happy ass would have went for it (let's be honest, if he could scare up the votes, he would reinstate Dred Scott in its entirety into any decision he could copypasta it into). That he got the ruling to be about procedural grounds suggests strongly that there were 5 pro-marriage-equality votes (even if they might have been soft votes), but he could avoid that ruling by making a larger majority ruling on standing. I imagine that either one of Kennedy's kids is gay, or that a nibling is gay, and so he leans pro-; and Scalia would blanch white if an honest-to-God blunt question of marriage equality landed on the docket.

Clearly you are smart enough to outwit the best the Rapeublicans have. Unfortunately the Democrats believe that if you're anything but white you are not that intelligent. I for one have greater faith in my fellow Americans than they do.

I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

Smeggy Smurf:cchris_39: I have a photo ID and voter registration card.

Clearly you are smart enough to outwit the best the Rapeublicans have. Unfortunately the Democrats believe that if you're anything but white you are not that intelligent. I for one have greater faith in my fellow Americans than they do.

Yeah. I was tempted to make a joke about my obvious racial, anatomical and intellectual superiority but I'm more thinking, "hey if I could do it....".

Ok, I support the voter ID law. You need Id for benefits, to get into the democratic convention, etc.but, the footnote on the ruling was great. The $20 for a birth certificate to provide access to an ID is an issue. This is awesome!.

DrPainMD:I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

Well, to start with, you can look up the wikipedia entries on such things as poll taxes and literacy tests. Then you can move onto the various and repeated instances in which Republicans have admitted that voter ID laws are being pursued for no reason other than to win elections by preventing people from voting.

Pretty much when Scott Walker showed up. Sort of like how American soldiers' behavior during Gulf War I was widely considered exemplary, because they knew that the orders to behave came right from GHWB himself? And then remember the psychopathic behavior we saw after 9/11?

Well when a piece of crap like Scott Walker lands itself on top of the chain of command, all the other pieces of shiat that have inserted themselves in the system take it as a granting them a much freer hand to be pieces of shiat.

Also, this is the same court where one of the justices voted in favor of allowing votes in his favor that a GOP partisan magically found... don't expect sense from it.

DrPainMD:I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

Make the ID free and easily accessible to get - including no charges for getting copies of government documentation needed - this includes waiving the fees for birth certificates, citizen papers, etc and/or allowing the county/state/whatever to transmit said information to the relevant agencies. Set up kiosks and field offices to handle it. Expand DMV office hours *and*employees to make certain people can get them in a timely manner.

Then maybe people might be open to discussion about requiring an ID to vote to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

If folks don't understand my glee over the "footnote" on the ruling. This requires yet more (federal) rulings. A $20 fee is seriously against what I would consider a free voting. BUT it also opens up many more things related to accepted id.Last week a homeless person died due to a heroin overdose in a shelter I support. A universal ID would have been wonderful.

DrPainMD:I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

So, in short, you are in favor of increased government regulation for no reason other than your vague suspicions.

DrPainMD:I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

Because facilities to get the necessary pieces of information and government components ate coincidentally also shuttered or reduced to working hours only, in areas with a larger concentration of minorities. On top of that group of people being the group that largely CANNOT afford to take time off of work in any way.

DrPainMD:I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Access to photo ID is often very difficult for the poor due not just to the physical cost but also the long continuous hours during prime work times that they must take off work to qualify, and DMVs are often understaffed in minority areas. ID requirements in civilized (European) countries are not onerous because the IDs are provided for free by the government and the time required to renew or update the IDs is generally quite low - and access to IDs by citizens is not arbitrarily reduced as it has been in, say, Wisconsin. It's a racial issue because in America, voter ID restrictions are targeted in such a way as to harm minorities. Said minorities are not just racial - women, who often change their names when they marry, are frequently challenged as in Texas when there is a mismatch between the ID and name on the roster. As there is and has been absolutely no evidence that IDs reduce voter fraud in any way, we must conclude that the proponents of voter IDs in America are either a) too stupid to breathe or b) intend to place as many barriers as possible between ethnic minorities and women as possible.

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

Yes, you do. If there is a signature mismatch, which the partisan poll observers or poll workers will note, the voter will be challenged. If multiple people attempt to vote under the same name, they will be challenged. If the person in question looks like he or she has passed through before that day, he or she will be challenged. The Republican moron in New Mexico who attempted to commit voter fraud to show how "easy" it is to commit voter fraud with a provisional ballot was caught in exactly this way. In order to provide enough votes to swing an election, you have to convince literally thousands of people to engage in a felony conspiracy that is very easy to detect - everyone knows that the Hasidim in New York City attempt voter fraud this way, and they've been caught repeatedly. If an operation literally actively protected and partially operated by the local prosecutor can't cover up that kind of fraud, why are we supposed to expect that it is a major issue elsewhere?

Good for you. A lot of people don't, and certain groups have been making it increasingly difficult for them to GET those, by altering DMV hours or moving offices away from poorer areas.

Karac:DrPainMD: I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

Well, to start with, you can look up the wikipedia entries on such things as poll taxes and literacy tests. Then you can move onto the various and repeated instances in which Republicans have admitted that voter ID laws are being pursued for no reason other than to win elections by preventing people from voting.

Summercat:DrPainMD: I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

Make the ID free and easily accessible to get - including no charges for getting copies of government documentation needed - this includes waiving the fees for birth certificates, citizen papers, etc and/or allowing the county/state/whatever to transmit said information to the relevant agencies. Set up kiosks and field offices to handle it. Expand DMV office hours *and*employees to make certain people can get them in a timely manner.

Then maybe people might be open to discussion about requiring an ID to vote to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

It's amazing how logical and concise the arguments are one side, and how goddamned retarded they are on the other.

exvaxman:If folks don't understand my glee over the "footnote" on the ruling. This requires yet more (federal) rulings. A $20 fee is seriously against what I would consider a free voting. BUT it also opens up many more things related to accepted id.Last week a homeless person died due to a heroin overdose in a shelter I support. A universal ID would have been wonderful.

This is just the thing: the people bleating about voter id are the same people who would scream at any attempt to create a national id, despite the fact that id laws vary WILDLY by state; ie Texas accepts a gun permit but not a government issued student from a public university.

Disparities like this are a naked attempt to gerrymander voting rights to certain constituents.

DrPainMD:I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

This sums up the issue pretty well, although it mentions multiple states. The TL;DR version is this: the people who are most likely to lack voter ID are more likely to vote for Democrats. Also, there are a lot of hoops to jump though, and some genuinely impossible situations. My personal favorite is below.

Although Mississippi's restrictive law is not yet in force, citizens there without ID face a particularly perverse set of rules. To secure government-issued photo ID, many voters will need a birth certificate. Yet the state requires a government-issued photo ID to obtain a certified copy of a birth certificate.

captainktainer:In order to provide enough votes to swing an election, you have to convince literally thousands of people to engage in a felony conspiracy that is very easy to detect

That, right there, is the core reason why going to such lengths to prevent 'voter fraud' is laughable. Voter fraud is, quite possibly, the single WORST possible method to fark with an election. There are too many people involved, and thus too much risk.

Having election officials in your pocket is much less risky, much more cost effective (since you only have to bribe a few people, rather than thousands), and is much more effective.

But THAT sort of fraud tends to benefit Republicans, so they'd rather we not look at it too closely.

cchris_39:Smeggy Smurf: cchris_39: I have a photo ID and voter registration card.

Clearly you are smart enough to outwit the best the Rapeublicans have. Unfortunately the Democrats believe that if you're anything but white you are not that intelligent. I for one have greater faith in my fellow Americans than they do.

Yeah. I was tempted to make a joke about my obvious racial, anatomical and intellectual superiority but I'm more thinking, "hey if I could do it....".

Which "I" are you referring to? The sock with buttons for eyes that is named cchris_39, or the unnamed farker with his/her hand up said sockpuppet's ass?

DrPainMD:I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

So you think someone is going to steal the signature book and practice and practice and practice and practice until he can forge someone's name so he can commit voter fraud?Hell, just ask for the voter ID card that's already been issued when someone registers to vote.

Smeggy Smurf:cchris_39: I have a photo ID and voter registration card.

Clearly you are smart enough to outwit the best the Rapeublicans have. Unfortunately the Democrats believe that if you're anything but white you are not that intelligent. I for one have greater faith in my fellow Americans than they do.

Clearly you have not been paying attention, or live in an area that is strictly white or maybe living in your own little world.

Summercat:DrPainMD: I don't get the opposition to requiring ID to vote. How did it become a racial issue?

Volunteer to work an election some time. A guy comes up, say "I'm Joe Smith." You look up Joe Smith in the voter roll, have him sign next to his name, and he votes. You have no idea if the person is who he says he is.

Make the ID free and easily accessible to get - including no charges for getting copies of government documentation needed - this includes waiving the fees for birth certificates, citizen papers, etc and/or allowing the county/state/whatever to transmit said information to the relevant agencies. Set up kiosks and field offices to handle it. Expand DMV office hours *and*employees to make certain people can get them in a timely manner.

Then maybe people might be open to discussion about requiring an ID to vote to solve a problem that doesn't exist.

CSS: When I moved here ten years ago, it took an hour to get my ID. When I got married and changed my name, I went into the same office and, again, didn't spend more than an hour. Last month I had to renew. Same office, same hours, same staffing level, and it was a madhouse. Just because they've since implemented the Real ID standards.

I was there four hours waiting for a simple renewal, and even then, I would have had to come back another day if I didn't have a smartphone to lookup a bank statement when told what I'd brought didn't work as proof of address.

Funny aside: I hear a lot of complaints that our state's voter ID requirements consider bank statements and utility bills to be acceptable ID at the polling place, since you already had to prove identity and eligibility to vote when you registered, but you can use those exact same oh-so-insecure bills to get your DL that's supposed to be the gold standard for voter ID. The only difference is that gold standard requires you to park your ass in an office for half a working day.